Catholic Memorial dominant on way to WIAA Division 2 girls team tennis title
MADISON – Catholic Memorial is a tennis school.
The Crusaders are home to iconic football and girls soccer programs. The girls volleyball program is top-flight. The school even won a state softball title last spring.
However, what the school's tennis programs have done in recent years is impressive. Extremely impressive.
The boys won a state title last spring and went to state in 2019. The girls completed their fourth straight state appearance Saturday, capping the weekend with a 6-1 victory over Eau Claire Regis to win its second Division 2 state title in three seasons.
“It's a team that has lots of depth and that was really the strength…,” Crusaders coach Chris Benyousky said. “That was our key.”
The victory capped a 21-3 season for Memorial, which entered the tournament as its No. 1 seed.
Its victory was part of a near sweep of titles for area teams. Divine Savior Holy Angels, which beat Badger on Friday and Franklin in the semifinals, lost to Neenah, 4-3, in the Division 1 final.
The Crusaders edged University School and Brookfield Academy to win a loaded sectional and qualify for state then faced little challenge on the way to championship. They also won the state semifinal, 6-1, over Appleton Xavier.
“We talked about staying humble all year,” Benyousky said. “We just took it a match at a time and didn't try to think too far ahead of ourselves.”
Sophomore Jessica Jacobson's 6-2, 6-4 victory over Regis sophomore Brittany Martin clinched the title.
The Crusaders also got victories from junior Shannon Kutcher and sophomore
Rachael Borg in singles and wins from seniors Jeslyn Singson and Courtney Sturm (No. 1 doubles), senior Reagan Rebholz and freshman Mary McCaffery (No. 2 doubles) and junior Kallynn Sauer and sophomore Maggie Schmitzer (No. 3 doubles).
Sophomore Grace Dorow didn't win in the final but did get a win in the dual with Xavier.
The team featured three players who leave with multiple state titles: Singsom, Sturm and Rebholz.
“The last four of five years, it's really all been about the team,” Benyousky said. “We knew we had some really good players individually each year, but we built this culture of team first and the players have bought into that.”
Another close call for DSHA
DSHA reached its third final in the past four seasons and for the third time it lost the final, 4-3.
The story of this season's final, however, was one of perseverance. The Dashers lost to Neenah, 6-1, early in the season and, 5-2, in the team's second meeting. At state, the difference was again trimmed and nearly flipped. In the swing match of the dual the No. 3 doubles team of senior Joanna Blonski and junior KK Buettner couldn't hang on after taking a one-set lead on Neenah sophomore's Paige Stielow and Maddie Daharsh and lost, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
In the timeline of the match, that final gave Neenah a 3-2 lead with No.1 singles and doubles remaining. Sophomore Carolyn Schaefer tied the dual with a 6-1, 6-1 win over senior Ava Dunsirn, but DSHA senior Alex Moews and sophomore Molly Jex lost, 6-1, 7-5 to Neenah senior Sophia Paape and junior Shelby Roth, who won the individual state title last week.